This invention relates to the extermination of fire ants and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for treating the same.
Since the importation of the fire ant to this country in the early 1900's, perhaps on shiploads of lumber imported from the insect's home territory in South America, more than 300 million acres of cropland, lawns, recreation areas and other valuable property throughout the entire southern portion of the United States have been infested with many millions of acres being rendered useless.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates an annual yearly loss to agriculture of several billions of dollars because the imported fire ants consume an extraordinary amount of agriculture products such as soybeans, citris fruit and trees, and potatoes.
Fire ants attack any living thing that invades their established territory surrounding their raised nesting mounds and are known to kill and eat chickens, calves and piglets. In some areas the rapidly spreading ants are crowding out (or killing) other insects, lizards, birds, and small mammals completely destroying natural ecosystems.
The use of chemical pesticides and poison baits to eradicate the insects has raised environmental concerns and resulted in a government ban against chemical treatment of fire ants by conventional methods. The primary problem with pesticides and other poisons is that they not only kill their targets but also most other wildlife including those species of ants and other insects which help to keep the population of the fire ants under control.
Thus, the present invention provides a solution to these problems by utilizing an effective environmentally safe, non-toxic treatment for fire ant control.